


Making Our Way

by theicequeenwrites



Category: Dare Me (TV 2019), Dare Me - Megan Abbott
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Getting Together, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Marriage Proposal, SO MUCH FLUFF, Self-Indulgent, They deserved better, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Weddings, ooc? idk let them be happy, the addybeth fluff we all deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29042883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theicequeenwrites/pseuds/theicequeenwrites
Summary: Once, Addy told Beth that when things don't go your way, they usually turn out better in a different way. Beth is pretty sure her life shouldn't have happened like this, but she's finding she doesn't mind since it led her to where she is now: with Addy. Where she belongs.Or, the girls figure it out and make their way in the world together.
Relationships: Beth Cassidy & Faith Hanlon, Beth Cassidy/Addy Hanlon
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	Making Our Way

**Author's Note:**

> did i make a pinterest board for this so i could procrastinate? absolutely [ here it is](https://www.pinterest.com/theicequeenwrites/making-our-way/)
> 
> also, for plot purposes or whatever, we're assuming the main events of cannon happened circa ~2019

***

Once, Addy told Beth that when things don’t go your way, they usually turn out better in a different way.

***

Beth sits against the headboard of Addy’s bed, putting shitty green nail polish on while Addy putters around putting away laundry. The air is tense, like it hasn’t been since before French’s arrival, it creeps uncomfortably through Beth’s veins. “Spit it out, Hanlon,” she says, when the pressure’s threatening to break the room in half. Break her in half.

Addy sighs. She folds a tiny pair of blue shorts and sticks them into Beth’s side of the dresser. Beth barely goes home anymore; the extra pillow on Addy’s bed had an imprint of Beth’s head, and Faith started setting the table for three. They run at night and do stunts in the back until they are exhausted, trying to keep the thoughts away. “She wasn’t you,” Addy says.

Beth ignores that in favor of finishing the last stroke of her pinkie nail and twisting the bottle closed with too much bravado. “If I knew you had a thing for blondes, we could have avoided this whole thing with a box of Walgreens hair dye.”

Addy snorts, her back still firmly faced away from Beth. Beth openly admires the ripples in Addy’s exposed shoulders as she opens and closes drawers. “She was simple.” Addy starts matching socks together with care Beth knows she never usually uses. “She was going to be my ticket out of this fucking town, she was going to get me the scholarship. I thought she was hot sure, anyone with eyes would agree with me on that-”

Beth adds a carefully timed snort here.

“But I wasn’t in love with her. I would have done anything to get recognized at States, get a scholarship. I almost did.”

“You wanna get out of here so bad, we can do that. I could get you that scholarship, still can,” Beth insists. Addy looks over her shoulder, her eyes meeting Beth’s. She turns around fully.

She sighs, again. Beth blinks at her, eyes unnervingly wide.

“She was simple because there were no years of feelings attached. She wasn’t you. Maybe I would have gone too far for the scholarship. But it didn’t mean anything.”

Beth has been speaking in riddles with Addy for so long she instantly recognizes the hidden meaning. _It didn’t mean anything, she’s not you, you mean something._ “Why did you give her your hamsa? My hamsa,” Beth finds herself asking.

Addy gives her a look that blatantly says: don’t be stupid. “She wanted to feel special.”

“What about me?” Beth asks, too fast, too passionately.

Addy watches her with a critical glance for a moment, Beth sees the wheel spinning round-and-round in her pretty little head. Addy approaches her, pulling her off the bed with a swift yank on her wrists. They’re chest to chest. “You’re more than a bracelet. I would- you mean something to me even if I’m not wearing that.”

“You and I always did have different definitions of ‘my girl’, huh?” Beth says under her breath. A confession. Addy’s eyes glint, the traces of a smirk pulling her lips upwards.

“You’ve always been my best friend, always will be,” Addy says.

Beth sighs. They’ve done this a hundred times before. Beth tries, tries so hard to get the right words to come out and Addy says _we’re best friends_. Each time, Beth backs down, because if Addy is so insistent on them being _just_ friends, then Beth could respect that. She respects Addy, no matter what most people say. And each time, Beth’s heart shatters a little more under the weight of those two little words. Each time, Beth has to try not to gasp out at the physical pain that strikes her through the chest and paste a cocky smile on her face and say, _of course we’re best friends silly_. Beth won’t make that mistake again. They’ve proved their friendship can overcome anything, they’ll get through too, if Beth is wrong. She won’t make the mistake of almost letting Addy go again.

“No, Addy. You’re _my_ girl.”

Beth watches the realization flash across Addy’s face. Yes, they’re best friends, but they’re so much more. So much more, it’s killing Beth to pretend they’re not. To pretend everything is the same as when they were eight, ten, twelve.

Addy takes a stuttering deep breath. Beth watches her chest expand with thinly veiled hunger, as she has been for years. She’s amazed only RiRi and Faith know. She’s amazed Addy hasn’t noticed. “We need rules then.”

Beth blinks, she’s run this scenario every night for years, and those words never occurred to her. “Listen, if you’re not cool with-”

“Shut up, Beth, listen to me,” Addy interrupts. “We can’t keep going on like this. You- you like me. And I- I think I love you. So we need rules so we don’t fall apart every time I make a friend or a pretty blonde walks into town.”

“Rule one: stop calling Colette French hot, pretty, or anything of the sort.”

“Rule two: we talk about the important things straight up and as soon as they come up. No more of these riddles and secrets, we won’t survive,” Addy adds.

Beth looks up the few inches with open eyes, no masks, no secrets. They go on like that, recreating the foundations that keep them upright. _Cheating won’t be tolerated, we can spend time apart or with other people, we have each other’s backs, we tell each other anything we’re suspicious of, equal work-_

It dissolves from there into silly things they won’t remember in ten or twenty years about laundry and pillowcases and lipglosses. They’re determined though, to hold on through every punch and blow.

***

Addy and Beth spend the summer drinking sweet iced tea and watching choreo of winning Regionals routines. Beth fills three notebooks with notes in looping glittery letters and Addy is her willing subject to dance sequences and tumbling passes.

Beth always watches Addy with a heavy fondness and brazen hunger. Sometimes, they work from the time they wake up tangled in each other to the time the sun is long gone; other times they get too distracted in sun soaked skin and sweet lips to focus. It’s achingly similar to the way they used to spend summer when they were young girls, all sticky fingers with lingering touches and too-long stares, before they had figured it all out. Addy is sure this is the way things are supposed to be, making out by the side of Beth’s pool because they can, fingers pressing into exposed skin with explicit permission rather than under the guise of brushing away grass and correcting forms.

Beth and Addy lay on the grass, the sharp ends pricking into their skin, Beth’s face pressed into the crook of Addy’s neck. She breathes in deeply as Addy puts tens of small braids into her hair. They lay in the easy silence, both thinking about how they’ve done this countless times before but never like _this_.

***

The cheer coach remains useless and Beth and Addy remain co-captains. The freshmen rue the day they try out, but keep up with determined faces, the occasional compliment from one of the captains keeping them going. Beth convinces Bert to keep the useless coach around, so they take them to Regionals, so that everyone will realize this always has been her (and Addy’s) squad.

As soon as the newbies have learned the basic football game cheers and the routines are up to her and Addy’s ridiculous par, they start on Regionals. Beth is going to hunt down every pathetic soul on this team if they lose her final chance at a State bid because of sloppy handling of the choreo. They new girls have the gall to look surprised and suspicious when Beth and Addy start teaching the routine and introducing stunts, Addy corrects it with a grueling day of conditioning and motion drills.

Addy cons Jordy into filming their bid vid, and the teams spends the three week consideration period in a state of constant tension and nervousness. The team does tumbling passes with Beth and Addy criticizing every muscle flex until they’re satisfied, running basket drops and drilling bow and arrows until they’re perfect. Even Tacy must sense the feeling of potential and hope in the air because, for once, she keeps her fucking mouth shut.

Beth gets the e-mail, because she hacked Bert’s account and then entered her own as the Coach’s. They’re in.

Beth and Addy make speeches when they announce their entry into the Regionals. Addy harps about hard work and tenacity. Beth says: “If we do better than last year, everyone is sprinting around this room chanting ‘Colette French sucks ass’ until every one of you has puked.”

Addy glares at her but smiles, and starts up a run through of the game cheers for the week’s game. Beth works on the awkward transition between a tumbling pass and dance section in the routine, smiling to herself as Addy yells about pointed toes and loose abs.

They get second fucking place and Beth smiles so hard her cheek cramps. Addy kisses it better and holds her hand as much as she can the rest of the weekend away that Beth convinced Bert to splurge on.

They never do have to do those sprints.

Beth and Addy take to choreographing the States routine with vicious rigor. Their squad works relentlessly, they’re so close it makes the hair on their arms stand. They work until Beth and Addy can’t see any imperfections, until even the JVs that were given background roles in the routine are at an adequate level. Beth feels the power thrumming through her veins every second she stands apart from her squad explaining moves and sequences with a clipboard waving around in one hand and Addy at her side.

They knab fifth at States and a recruiter from Navarro approaches Addy. Beth is giddy with the heady taste of well earned victory and stolen champagne.

***

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Addy asks for the millionth time. She’s still flushed down to the tops of her breasts from Beth’s touch, a sight Beth is sure she’s never going to get tired of. She sighs, nudging Addy’s cheek softly with her palm.

“I’ll be fine, I’m leaving in a few days anyways.”

Addy looks at her for a long second. She leans back into Beth, resting her head on Beth’s bare chest. The ends of her wild curls brush Beth’s chin, she twirls her fingers through them idly. “I’m not going to forget about you.”

Addy snorts softly, her breath tickling Beth’s skin. She has to fight herself to keep this conversation going and not put Addy’s mouth to use for very different reasons. “I wasn’t worried about that.”

“Okay.”

Addy rolls over and looks up at Beth with her big eyes. Beth is a sucker for those eyes. “We’ll make it.”

“Of course we will, Hanlon, we aren’t losers.”

Addy smirks at her, then cranes her neck up and sucks on Beth’s nipple. Beth gasps sharply, and any thoughts of moving on are lost.

***

> _don't do anything i wouldn't do_
> 
> **leaves a lot up for interpretation**
> 
> _exactly_
> 
> **🙄🙄**
> 
> _;)_

***

Jill is Addy’s roommate, fellow anatomy and physiology student, and flyer for the cheer team. The coach has it so that all squadmates are rooming together. Addy doesn’t mind, Jill shares her same cheer obsession and they study together.

“So, pretty girl,” Jill drawls, her accent still sounds odd to Addy even after two years of sharing a room and a life. _Georgia_ , Jill had told Addy when they first met. “Is there someone for you back at home?”

Addy blinks up from her textbook. Her eyes are fuzzy from long hours of rereading structures of the knee. She thinks about Beth’s loose curls, sharp blue eyes, a new hamsa on her wrist, a thin gold band on her middle finger ( _real gold, Hanlon, real gold_ ). “Uh yeah, kinda.”

Jill rolls her eyes. “There either is or there isn’t, Ads. Not some, maybe we’ll reconnect after school or we broke up from long distance, is there someone for you?”

Addy sighs. She’s avoided this conversation. Senior year was so perfect, her and Beth running the squad and the school, spending long nights curled up in each other, working through the strain of Coach French and the murder. She was almost afraid that thinking of it too much would change the way they left things, perfect and intact. Her phone buzzes, and the lockscreen is no longer her and Beth, it’s her and her stunt group. “Yeah, I have a girlfriend. She’s in Boston now.”

Jill looks positively thrilled at that. “A girlfriend? Does that mean Virgin Mary isn’t actually a virgin?”

Addy scoffs even though her cheeks begin to heat up. She had told Beth over the phone one night that people still called her Virgin Mary, Beth had told her it was just the vibe she gave off. Apparently, it was inescapable. “I’m not a virgin.”

Jill squeals in laughter, clapping her hands together. “This is too good to be true. Who is she? I need pics ASAP!” Addy sighs, but can’t off her smile. She closes her textbook and pulls out her phone. She tells Jill stories about Beth, and shows her pictures, and eventually ends up pulling up theirs States video where Beth rules from the top of the pyramid and her multiple stunts.

Once Jill is fast asleep, Addy pulls out her phone and opens messages.

> **I miss you**
> 
> _getting soft, huh, hanlon_
> 
> _i miss you too. skype tmrw?_
> 
> **Yeah, 7?**
> 
> _ttyt lover_

***

Addy sits with her face turned towards the window, the familiar scrubby trees of Sutton Grove’s highway whizzing past through the yellowed glass of the bus. She wipes a few tears from her cheeks and takes shuddering breaths. The woman in the aisle seat next to her is dead to the world, snoring lazily, while Addy grips her phone and tries not to fall apart.

> _she’s doing ok. nurse says surgery is going well_
> 
> _how was ur flight?_
> 
> **Exhausting. Two exits away.**
> 
> **How are you?**
> 
> _tired. haven’t slept in like thirty hours_
> 
> **Take a nap babe. I’ll be there soon.**
> 
> _i’ll sleep once i set my eyes on you. love you_
> 
> **Love you too.**

Addy supposes it could have been worse. Her phone could have rang at two in the morning announcing that Faith had died, rather than just fallen during a foot chase at work and broken her hip. But she knows what broken hip means for older people. She sighs again, wiping away more tears, and wishing the next few miles would go by faster.

When she gets to the hospital, Beth is leaning against a brick pillar, an unlit cigarette caught between her lips, a black cardigan hanging loosely from her elbows. Any scrap of composure Addy has built up crumbles. She stumbles into Beth’s arm, pressing her neck into the warm skin and relishing in the feeling of strong arms around her.

“It’s okay, Hanlon. It’s okay.” Addy whimpers slightly and Beth runs her hand over Addy’s braids. “Let’s go inside, I claimed a bench, we can curl up and pass out for a few hours,” Beth says, tugging Addy through the sliding doors.

Far too long later, Faith is awake and deemed ready for visitors. Addy steps into the room and fights off another round of tears. “Hi mom,” she says.

Faith smiles tiredly at her. “You didn’t have to come. I had Beth and Slocum.”

Addy chuckles. She sits in the chair by the bed and grabs her mom's hand, rubbing circles into the worn skin. “I know, but I wanted to be here. I was so scared when I got the call from Beth.”

“You’re lucky to have her,” Faith says. Addy recalls the days when Faith had been wary of the way Beth’s life was shaping up: too much partying and alcohol, not enough studying and behaving, and fights back a snort.

“Yeah, yeah I am,” Addy says. Her voice is watery and so are her eyes. “We’re so scared we’re going to lose you. These things are really dangerous.”

Faith clasps her other hand over Addy’s. “Adelaide, I’m not going anywhere. You know that.”

Addy sighs, “I know, it's just scary. I wasn’t the best to you and-”

“None of that. She didn’t give you any choice, you were doing your best. You know, this made me realize you never know when you’re out of time. You can’t keep waiting for things, got take them.”

“Mom, what are you- what are you saying?”

Faith chuckles. “Well, first of all, I’m going to retire-”

“-That’s great mom-”

“-Let me finish. And you should talk to Beth.”

“Mom, I talk to Beth all the time. She called me, remember?”

Faith rolls her eyes. “No, Addy. You never know when it’s gonna be over, what cards you’re gonna get. I admire your independence stunt, it was good for you, look at you now: an independent young lady. You can be together now, no more waiting.”

“Mom,” Addy whispers.

“I’m serious, go be with your girl. Go talk to her. Let me sleep.”

Addy giggles lightly. She presses a kiss to her mom’s hand. “I’ll be in the waiting room, okay?”

Faith nods and Addy watches her until she’s too far down the hallway to see into the sliver of open door. Addy makes her way to the bench where Beth is annotating a textbook. She drops onto it, curling up on top of Beth and falls asleep.

When Addy wakes up Beth has discarded the textbook and is staring at Addy with a familiar intensity. Hunger and fondness and appreciation all conveyed in the subtle twitch of ice blue eyes.

“Hey babe,” Addy says, her voice rough with sleep.

“Lover,” Beth acknowledges. Addy rolls over, kisses her collarbone, the column of her throat, the exposed skin of her shoulder. Beth giggles softly and Addy beams at the sound. She never thought she would hear Beth giggle at something like the chaste presses of strawberry flavored lips.

“Beth,” Addy says. Beth runs her finger along Addy’s hairline. “I’m done with school. I’m not gonna go back once I graduate.”

Beth purses her lips. “Why not? Thought you were excited for two more national championships.”

“I don’t want to be anywhere you aren't,” Addy declares. _No masks, no riddles, no secrets_.

“Oh,” Beth breathes out. “ _Oh_. Okay, okay.” Beth smiles at Addy, the type reserved for Addy and Addy alone. They type she gave freely when they were little and less often as they got older. “Come with me to California.”

“California?” Addy asks. She heaves herself up, propping an elbow on either side of Beth’s chest, looking into her eyes. “What’s in Cali?”

Beth turns a light shade of pink. “I -uh- got into a DPT program in California. USC.”

Addy’s jaw drops. “Beth! That’s amazing! I’m so proud of you. Dr. Beth Cassidy,” Addy says, lifting herself up until she’s sitting, straddling Beth’s lap. Her smile is wide enough that it hurts her cheeks.

Beth goes pinker, her eyes darting to the narrow window. “Dr. Beth Hanlon.”

Addy’s eyes widen to a comical size and Beth laughs at her softly. She sits up, bringing them chest to chest, and cups Addy’s face gently. “Beth,” Addy whispers, reverently, lovingly. She brushes their lips together softly. “Beth.”

“Marry me, Adelaide. Marry me.”

A tear streaks down Addy’s cheek, then a matching one falls down Beth’s face. Addy never thought she would get to have this, Beth was a forbidden desire. Addy has loved Beth her entire life, so close yet so far at the same time. Addy has loved Beth her entire life, colliding into each other time and time again yet denying each other every time. Addy has loved Beth through every mistake and every spell of awkward distance between them. And now, Addy is going to be her wife. Her wife. Somehow, she manages to utter a sting of frantic yeses into Beth’s lips.

Beth’s fingers crush into Addy’s shoulders, a sweet pain. “I’m going to buy you that ring you’ve always liked, since we were little girls. The one with the rose gold band and light blue sapphire. I am going to make you my wife and love you every day for the rest of our lives like I’ve wanted to since we were little girls. My wife: Addy Hanlon, mine to have and to hold.”

Addy gasps softly, her eyes too blurry with tears to see Beth properly. She presses her lips to Beth’s, letting Beth part her lips easily.

“I don’t need a ring. Just you.”

“I want to give you one. My fiancee.”

Addy giggles loud and clear into the hospital waiting room.

***

> ur engaged to my sister
> 
> weird asf
> 
> **Half-sister***
> 
> god, ur just like her
> 
> u 2 deserve each other
> 
> **Thanks! 🤗**

*******

Bert looks at Addy and Beth with wild glee in his eyes and a too wide smile on his face. “You girls are getting married!” he exclaims, waving his hands around the room. Being back in Bert’s office reminds Beth of high school, trying to figure out French’s secrets and get money out of him.

“I’m so happy for you girls,” he declares. Addy entwines her fingers into Beth’s, a silent reassurance. “I never saw this coming.”

“I’ve been telling you I was in love with Addy since we were ten years old,” Beth points out. She remembers when she was still too little to understand what had happened and she would go over to her father’s office after school and talk about Addy and cheer and school drama until Lana stumbled in a little tipsy to pick her up.

Bert’s beady little rat eyes flick around the room. “Well I thought you meant-”

“Spare me you heteronormative bullshit,” Beth snaps.

Addy kisses her cheek. “We just wanted to tell you in person. And ask if you would be at the wedding.”

“Of course I’ll be there! You two are my girls, I’ll be there,” Bert says, then pauses. “Can I bring Tacy and Ashlie?”

Beth grits her teeth and tries not to squeeze Addy’s hand so hard she snaps a bone. “Their presence will be...tolerated.”

Addy gives him a saccharine smile.

“Let me pay for the whole thing girls. My treat to the soon to be…”

“Hanlons,” Beth tells him resolutely. She takes guilty pleasure in the way he flinches. Unfortunately, the Cassidy name dies with him. Not that it's ever done her any good.

“Well, congratulations to you two. Addy and Beth Hanlon,” he says. Beth preens under it.

***

Addy is wearing a jumpsuit, white with wide legs and a sweetheart neckline that exposes all the glorious skin of her shoulders, a simple necklace with a teardrop diamond hangs in the hollow of her neck. Beth can’t look away from her. She’s already standing at the altar besides the ginger priestess, needing no one to give her away while the familiar (and previously nerve wracking) tune of ‘Here comes the bride’ rings across the beach as Faith walks Addy down the aisle.

She’s stunning. Perfect, really. Beth doesn’t deserve her. Not even the best parts of her are equivalent to the worst parts of Addy. They have their flaws, their differences but they work. Beth is going to love Addy until the day she dies and beyond then, she’s going to take care of her as long as she can, as best as she can. Beth can’t believe Addy chose her, loves her. Addy’s eyes are already tearing up and Faith has been crying since as soon as she laid her eyes on Beth.

Addy is finally before Beth. Faith lifts the veil from over her face and pulls it back over the messy yet sophisticated bun Addy’s curls are in. Beth forgets how to breathe, how to see anything that isn’t Addy. Addy mouths ‘oh wow’ at Beth. Beth turns pink; she looks down at the butter soft silk dress she’s wearing, with its little cowl neck and thin straps that show off the muscles she’s maintained and the tattoos she’s begun to collect. She’s so done for.

The preacher starts the ceremony. She leaves out the religious peaches and the scriptures usually read at every Sutton Grove wedding. Instead she talks about unity and devotion and partnership. Everything that describes them. They exchange thin bands made of rose gold and diamonds and share their first kiss as _wives_.

“Eyes on my girl,” Beth whispers as their guests cheer and toss dried flower petals into the air.

“Eyes always on my girl,” Addy whispers back. She reaches behind Beth’s head, tangles her fingers into Beth’s curls and kisses her again and again and again.

RiRi and Jill make eye watering speeches as the two Maids of Honor. Addy cries so much by the time the DJ announces it's time for the first dance that Addy doesn’t think she could possibly cry anymore. She hasn't cried this much since she was in junior year and her world was spiraling out of control.

Beth drags her into the center of the dance floor, a piece of wood placed over the sand and covered by strings of fairy lights, at least that’s what they are according to RiRi. An Ellie Goulding song that Jill introduced Addy to in freshman year plays over the speakers, soft lights creating alluring highlights on Beth’s skin. Addy pulls her wife closer to her, draping her arms over Beth’s shoulders and tracing absent minded shapes into her skin.

“You look happy, lover,” Beth says quietly. Everyone they love -and tolerate- is sitting around and watching, it feels like a far cry from pushing everyone as par away as possible.

Addy giggles. “I’m happy. The happiest.”

The song washes around them, background to their moment, _How long will I want you? As long as you want me too / And longer by far_

Beth kisses her chastely, kisses her cheek, the side of her neck. “Impossible,” she whispers into Addy’s skin.

Addy shivers beneath her touch. “Why?”

“Because I’m the happiest,” Beth says, her hand leaving Addy’s waist to lower her chin, so they’re eye to eye. “No one has ever been happier.”

Addy giggles again, her stomach fluttering with the telltale signs of desire and the joy she gets from seeing Beth’s face open and trusting. She pulls Beth into a deep kiss and ignores the sound of applause that fades into the distance.

***

> _**have fun on the honeymoon** _
> 
> _**if you catch my drift ;))))** _
> 
> _;)))_

***

Addy is exhausted to the bone, jetlagged and hungover. She winces at the flashing green light on the coffee maker as she struggles to tear open a bag of coffee.

She feels hands on her stomach, a body pressed tight to her back. She drops her head back, letting Beth’s shoulder catch it. “Good morning, Mrs. Hanlon,” Beth whispers, studying Beth’s face from her unique angle. Beth’s eyes glow in the late morning light, her jaw sharp and elegant. Addy cranes her neck to kiss it. She may have spent all night wrapped up in Beth, but she’s not one to deny contact.

“Mrs. Hanlon,” Addy whispers back. She pulls a curl away from Beth’s face, drinks her in.

Beth wiggles her nose and presses an upside down kiss to Addy’s lips. She spins Addy around easily, pulls her into a searing kiss. All thoughts of coffee are forgotten as Addy’s insides turn to jelly. Addy pulls away to mouth at Beth’s neck and squeals in surprise when Beth easily lifts her up and drops her onto the small swath of open counter.

She kisses down Addy’s throat, her chest, stomach; ridding her of clothes as she goes. She presses kisses into her hips and thighs, sucks a hickey into the spot where her hip meets her thigh. Beth gives Addy a dazzling smile before dropping to her knees and burying her face between her thighs.

Later, when they are boneless and warm from the sun, Addy reaches over and pulls out a thin velvet box. She opens it without preamble, and slips the thin ring -a tiny rectangle diamond with a few small round ones on either side, dainty like Beth- on to Beth’s finger above her wedding ring.

***

“Welcome to our house,” Beth says. She pushes the door open to their very small apartment.

“Our apartment,” Addy repeats, jaw slack and eyes open with admiration as she steps towards the doorway, unaware of all the shortcomings. Too caught up in the bliss of owning a house with her _wife_ , she’s never going to get used to saying that.

“Uh-uh, lover,” Beth says, swinging her arm up and blocking the entry. “Bad luck.” Without any more preamble, Beth crouches down and sweeps Addy up, one arm under her knees the other under her armpits.

Addy buries her head in the top of Beth’s messy ponytail and giggles so loudly the neighbors probably hear through the thin walls. Neither of them have the mind to feel bad for those cursed with living next to them.

Beth takes them through the doorway, managing to check the door closed with her hip. “Eyes on my girl,” she murmurs into Addy’s hair.

“Just me and you,” Addy whispers back.

***

Beth wakes up panting and trying to peel imaginary fingers off her throat. Her head is pounding, vision swirling in and out in a black-purple haze. She struggles to pull air into her lungs, ground herself in the present. She looks over, expecting to see Addy’s sleeping lump facing away from her in bed, but Addy is watching her with careful eyes, head resting on her pillow, curls pulled back in a silk wrap. This version of Addy, the unabridged and unedited, is Beth’s favorite by far; reminiscent of the days when all that mattered was Barbies and back walkovers.

The distraction is enough for her heartbeat to stop hammering in her chest. She takes in a shaky deep breath. Addy watches her carefully. Doesn’t touch, doesn’t pry.

“Do you ever have nightmares about it?” she asks, eyes focused on her reflection in the mirror.

Addy hums. “Sometimes,” she says after a moment. Beth sees Addy’s reflection push the covers back and sit up, leaning against the headboard. “I dream about his teeth, his blood. The way she smiled at me, her eyes.”

Beth leans back against the headboard, dropping her head onto Addy’s shoulder. Addy laces their fingers together, drops a kiss onto her hairline. “She had crazy eyes.”

Addy snorts. Beth can practically feel her roll her eyes. “Can’t believe I never noticed.”

Beth lifts their joined hands and kisses Addy’s soft skin. The gentle smell of cocoa butter Faith gave Addy last Christmas fills her senses. This is heaven, Beth decides. Sitting with your wife in the middle of the night is as good as it gets. “You saw what you wanted to. Didn’t know better.”

“I should have listened to you.” Beth shrugs, her shoulder digging into Addy’s ribs for a brief second. “Maybe we wouldn’t be here now if you had. Maybe you’d be dead.”

Addy laughs softly. “Morbid, babe. Real morbid.”

Beth lifts her head enough to press a sleepy kiss to Addy’s lips. “Keeping it real since 2002.”

Addy wrinkles her nose in Beth’s direction. “Wanna go for a run?”

Beth appreciates the sentiment. Back in Sutton Grove, when the nights bled on too long and the thoughts and memories got too much, they would run side by side until they couldn’t anymore. They ran together through first break ups, Colette French, flunking out their first states, the aftershocks of junior year. Beth shakes her head overdramatically, until her whole body sways left and right. She drags Addy back down and wraps herself around her. “Sleep.”

***

Addy swings the door shut with a kick to the bottom corner and shuffles through the entryway, barely making it to the dining room without dropping a shopping bag. “Hey, babe,” she calls through the house. She puts the perishables in the fridge and then ducks through the window onto the fire escape where she knows Beth will be.

Beth’s writing something in a notebook, a stack of flashcards and a textbook abandoned besides her.

“Studying?” Addy asks, squeezing next to her.

Her feet dangle over the edge, blocking out people as they pass below. Living in a big city is still so novel to Addy she spends hours out here admiring it after work.

Beth shakes her head, keeping her lips pursed in concentration as she goes on.

Addy nudges her shoulder slightly. “What are you doing?”

“Translating the Communist Manifesto to Cantonese.”

“Interesting. Didn’t know you spoke Chinese.”

Beth looks up from her notebook. There’s a smudge of ink beneath her eye and a playful smirk on her lips. “Cantonese is only one dialect of Chinese.”

Addy rolls her eyes. “I know that.”

Beth doesn’t answer her. She goes back to scritching in her notebook and Addy zones out, just appreciating the smell of Beth’s perfume and the warm breeze. Some time later, something slaps into Addy’s lap, startling her out of her reverie. She glances down and sees the notebook, the page it is opened to filled with sketches of elaborate lingerie.

She picks it up and looks at it closer. She can practically see the texture from here. “These are really good, Beth,” Addy says, looking over at Beth who’s pink in the cheeks. “Really, really good.”

Beth sighs, frustratedly pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I dont know.” A second later: “Thanks.”

“You don’t have to believe me, but they’re good.”

“Maybe it will be my side hustle.”

Addy laughs, loud and carefree into the beautiful day. “Focus on graduating, _Dr. Hanlon_ , then you can talk about side hustles.”

***

> _is it weird that i'm considering texting fetus congrats?_
> 
> **Idk**
> 
> **I think...it might be...maturity**
> 
> _f off_
> 
> **😊😊**
> 
> _bring me a burger and sit with me during break??_
> 
> **I have a lunch meeting. 3pm break coffee break?**
> 
> _it's a date_

***

Beth looks stunning in her emerald green dress under the flashing lights of Tacy’s wedding reception. Despite the scowl on her face and frosting in her elaborate braided hair, and the fact Addy has been looking at her for years, Addy is in awe by her looks. She sips her margarita out of the corner of her mouth, taking advantage of Beth glaring daggers at the bartender to stare at her.

“We can go you know,” Addy says, once she’s finished her second margarita (on top of numerous champagne flutes and two shots) and feeling satisfactorily tipsy. Her tolerance has bottomed out since she stopped drinking an insane amount like she did in highschool. Her therapist recommended drinking less to help regulate her mood, but Tacy was her sister in law and that seemed like a good enough reason to get drunk. Beth doesn’t drink at all anymore. “I know this is hard for you.”

Beth pulls her eyes away from the bartender and looks at Addy. Her glare softens. “It’s fine. The cake was good, so was the music.”

Addy pushes herself up; Beth follows, grabbing Addy’s elbows so she doesn’t fall over. “Let’s go, you aren’t having any fun,” she declares. She leans forward, lips brushing Beth’s cheek and probably leaving behind a trail of purple lipstick, “I have ideas about how we can have fun.”

Beth smirks at her. “Sounds perfect, lover. Let’s go give our congratulations to the mother of the bride,” she says, a malicious glimmer in her words. Addy lets herself be led to where Ashlie and Bert stand, fawning over Michael and Tacy, Faith and Lana not too far back. Addy waves at Bert and he gives them an amused look. Addy tries to pout, and fails.

“Ashlie, great wedding” Beth purrs, vicious words in a too sweet tone. “I see gold-diggers run in the family.”

Addy cackles as Beth plasters a smirk on her face. Ashlie goes a brilliant shade of plum and Bert’s jaw drops. Addy and Beth make their escape, tripping over their feet and laughing too loud while Bert and Ashlie glare in rage and Faith and Lana look on with thinly veiled amusement.

***

Faith claps Beth on her shoulder, a proud gleam in her eyes. Bert or Lana couldn’t be bothered to be here for her graduation, but Faith came without asking. Sometimes, Beth acknowledges Faith is more of a mother than Lana’s ever been. “Well done girl, well done,” she says.

Addy tries to take a candid without either of them noticing. The flash ends up going off, startling them and making the photo wash out. Addy forces them to pose together, then wrangles them into a selfie. Addy’s excitement and pride is palpable in the air, she bounces around like a puppy, a proud smirk unmoving from her face.

“You’re amazing, Beth,” Addy tells her for the millionth time that day alone, brushing invisible dust from the lapel of Beth’s graduation gown. She tugs her in and presses their lips together. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Damn right you should be,” Faith says, eyes twinkling. “She’s the first Dr. Hanlon in the family. We’re all fucking proud of you.”

Beth smiles and she knows her face goes red. Addy laughs, cups Beth’s face in her hands and presses kisses around her face. “I’m married to a doctor. A doctor!” she says, like she can’t quite believe it.

That makes Beth and Faith laugh, which makes Addy laugh, and they pile into Beth’s new matte black Jeep still laughing.

***

> **Clubbing with RiRi one more time before she leaves?**
> 
> _sure. time?_
> 
> **Don't know. Text you when she answers me**
> 
> _is this what it's like being married? making plans with friends while working?_
> 
> **We've been married for three years**
> 
> _still brand new to me. how could i ever get sick of you??_
> 
> **Aw.**
> 
> _was that not smooth enough? do i need to up my game?_
> 
> **I'm already yours.**
> 
> _boring_
> 
> **Skip clubbing and stay home? ;)**
> 
> _unfortunately not. i'll never hear the end of it from riri if we do_
> 
> **;)**

***

They go back to Sutton Grove and Beth opens a practice with one of her classmates in the junction between three tiny Ohio towns. Addy’s sitting on top of a box full of textbooks that they haven’t had a chance to sell yet, most of them duplicates from their shared degree, looking at furniture for their very pretty (yet very empty) house when Beth gets home.

Addy hears the door open and shouts a hello. It’s weird living somewhere that you can’t see the front door from practically every angle. Enlightening, really, like a ‘you made it’ card in the source of a thirty year mortgage that they both know Bert is secretly paying off.

Beth comes into the room, hair sticking to her face. She drops down next to the box and presses her chin into Addy’s thigh. Addy tangles her hand into Beth’s hand instinctually, the other hand maneuvering to angle the laptop so they can both see. “Close your eyes,” she says and watches as Beth dutifully obeys. Addy pulls up the screen. “I found the couch, you can open them.”

Addy watches Beth register the picture on the screen and then bug slightly. “It’s...pink.”

Addy gives Beth a challenging glare. Beth bites playfully into the skin on Addy’s thigh. “It’s wonderful. Order it immediately.”

Addy laughs and presses purchase without another thought. She closes the laptop, shoves it off to the side rather carelessly, and pulls Beth into her.

***

> **come home**
> 
> _be there in ten_

***

“I can’t believe they named the twins after themselves,” Beth says, her words rolling around the lollipop in her mouth. Her lips are vaguely purple from the candy and so are her fingertips from the purple pen she’s writing with.

Now that they’re functioning adults with jobs, they spend some time in the evenings side by side at the kitchen island, Beth finishing charts or doodling lingerie designs and Addy making lesson plans or looking for cheer coach positions available. Addy’s laptop is currently open to the anatomy assignments she needs to grade, preferably before Friday when the next assignment is due, in favor of staring at Beth. They’ve been married for years, together for more, best friends forever, yet the angles and planes of Beth’s face have never grown dull.

“I can,” Addy says. Beth looks over at Addy, sees her staring and rolls her eyes. She doesn’t say anything though, just turns back to her papers. “Fetus is like that.”

Beth snorts. “Is she still a fetus if she has her own?” she wonders outloud. She pulls the lollipop from her mouth dramatically. “Fucking ironic that Tacy had twins, isn’t it?”

“Not sure that’s ironic but sure. I think they’re cute though. All squishy with that cute blond hair.”

Beth’s eyes widen. “No. No, no, no, no,” she says, the ‘no’s bouncing out one after another in her snarky tone. “You have that look on your face.”

Addy scoffs inelegantly. She turns to her laptop and pretends to work, Beth isn’t fooled. “I do not.”

“Yes you do,” Beth accuses lightly. “You look like you have something you need to say.”

Addy sighs. She closes her laptop, accepting that nothing is going to get done tonight, faces Beth. “I was not going to tell you I want a baby.” Beth’s face relaxes naturally; parents aren’t her strong suit, having them or being one. “I was going to tell you I found a coaching job in Florida, three years, near the beach. It sounds good.”

Beth nods. “Okay, I’ll tell John the practice is up to him for a few years.”

“That’s not his name,” Addy says, poking Beth’s cheek. “Thank you though, I’m itching to get out of here again. I miss the beach, weirdly enough.”

Beth cackles at that, tossing her head back and shaking her head. “I distinctly remember you hating the feeling of seaweed brushing your leg and sand between your toes.”

“I said ‘weirdly enough’!”

***

> [Sisters🤢] chat
> 
> r u drugging my children?
> 
> **No**
> 
> _why do you still text like you're fourteen??_
> 
> ur a dick
> 
> _f off_
> 
> why do i even let you hang out with the twins??
> 
> **We're the best aunts ever??**
> 
> _clearly babe. no comparison._
> 
> disgusting. dont show affection in the group chat
> 
> **Sorry 😏**
> 
> _we're not responsible for the fact your gold digging self is stuck in a loveless marriage_
> 
> **What she said**
> 
> i hate u 2
> 
> **I know**
> 
> _ik_

***

For years they live like that, hopping around the country and touching base in Sutton Grove between then. Beth shamelessly supports Addy during her coaching stints, offering help with empty spaces in routines and showing up at every meet and game, while growing her lingerie Etsy shop. When they’re in Sutton Grove and Beth works at the practice, Addy teaches remotely and babysits Stacie and Mikalia for Tacy and Micheal.

The years they spend in Sutton Grove are filled with long drives and midnight runs. Giggles and tumbling in the backyard. Just like being teenagers again. Except there’s no secrets, no lies, this time. Just the simple happiness that comes from spending each day curled up in your best friend.

In Florida, they live right on the sand, going for long walks during sunset and talking about their day. In Maine, they go hiking on the weekends and make friends with the old brothers who live next door. In Texas, they reconnect with Jill and Addy’s college squad. In Connecticut, Addy gets to meet parts of Beth’s squad. In Kentucky, every wall of the house is painted a neon green that is practically visible in the dark. In the conservative states where eyes are turned at Addy anywhere she goes, Beth is the ever-present, obnoxious trophy wife that makes them squirm. In every state, they are sickeningly in love.

Everytime they move, Faith, Bert and Ashlie, Tacy and her cohort, fly in to help unpack the boxes (knowing it will never happen otherwise, Beth and Addy being perfectly happy to live amongst them) and throw a housewarming party. In the summers, the twins stay with them for a few weeks. Addy and Beth teach them tumbling passes and how to surf and they follow Beth around like she’s the best thing since sliced bread (much to Tacy’s annoyance). At Christmas time Bert herds them to a ski lodge in Colorado, Faith showing up with Slocum and his girlfriend, and the twins fawning over their ‘Nana Faith’ (very much to Tacy’s annoyance).

Beth collects the state flowers of each state they live on the arm that isn’t a hodgepodge of little doodles and quotes she likes. Fl, Tx, Az, Ca, Me, Ky, Nv, Ct, Ga, Ka, Hi; all linked together telling the story of her and Addy making their way through the world.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for the read! kudos and comments are much appreciated!!! i have two more ideas for some addyxbeth content, so keep an eyes out <3


End file.
